Regime Change for Profit: Chevron, Halliburton Cheer On US Venezuela Coup

If Guaidó comes to power and privatizes PDVSA, U.S. oil companies — with Chevron and Halliburton leading the pack — stand to make record profits in the world’s most oil-rich nation, as they did in Iraq following the privatization of its national oil industry after U.S. intervention.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
Venezuelan | Oil

WASHINGTON -- For much of the past twenty years, critics of U.S. foreign policy have noted that it is often countries with sizeable oil reserves that most often find themselves the targets of U.S.-backed “humanitarian” interventions aimed at “restoring democracy.” Analysis of the nearly two-decades-long U.S. effort aimed at regime change and

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Internal US Gov’t Document Outlines Program of ‘Economic Warfare’ on Venezuela

An internal government document reveals tactics of “economic warfare” and “financial weapons” the US is using against Venezuela in the name of “furthering capitalism.”

Ben Norton
By Ben Norton
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro fist bumps a worker of the state-run oil company PDVSA during a visit to the Orinoco oil belt in Venezuela in 2013. (Photo: Miraflores/AP)

GrayZone Project -- Venezuela has suffered from an economic crisis in recent years, and while the US government and corporate media outlets have blamed this hardship solely on the ruling socialist party, internal US government documents acknowledge that Washington has been using what it clearly describes as “financial weapons” to wage “economic

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Venezuela’s US-Backed Coup Leader Immediately Targets State Oil Company, Requests IMF Money

Unelected US-backed coup leader Juan Guaidó immediately moved to try to restructure Venezuela’s state-owned oil company and seek financing from the neoliberal IMF.

Ben Norton
By Ben Norton
Juan Guaido | Venezuela

GrayZone Project -- The right-wing opposition leader that the United States is trying to undemocratically install as Venezuela’s president immediately set his sights on the country’s state-owned oil company, which he is hoping to restructure and move toward privatization. He is also seeking money from the notorious International Monetary Fund (IMF)

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Venezuela Accused Of Drug Trafficking After Dropping U.S. Petrodollar

U.S. President Donald Trump recently signed a determination that singles out Venezuela for failing to adhere to counternarcotics obligations. The accusation came – perhaps not so coincidentally – on the same day that Venezuela declared it will no longer participate in the U.S.’ petrodollar trade system.

Whitney Webb
By Whitney Webb
An anti-narcotics police officer stands guard at a landing zone near a cocaine lab in Calamar, Guaviare state, Colombia. Police seized cocaine and chemicals at the lab. About 104 labs have been destroyed by the police in a five day period.(AP/Fernando Vergara)

In what is set to be a major blow to the U.S.’ increasingly fragile “petrodollar” system, Venezuela announced on Wednesday that it would no longer accept U.S. dollars as payment for its crude oil exports. According to the Wall Street Journal, Venezuela has begun using euros in lieu of the dollar and will convert existing cash holdings into euros as

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Opposition Condemns Goldman Sachs Purchase Of Venezuelan Bonds

Although the US$2.8 billion deal is a boost to the economy, opposition leaders accused Goldman Sachs of providing a “lifeline” to a “dictatorship.”

teleSUR
By teleSUR
Opposition led National Assembly leader accused Goldman Sachs of supporting the "dictatorship" of President Maduro. (AP/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuelan opposition leaders have accused the major Wall Street investment bank, Goldman Sachs, of supporting a “dictatorial regime” for purchasing US$2.8 billion in bonds from the Venezuelan national oil company PDVSA, in spite of the fact that the purchase is a boost to the Venezuelan economy, Reuters reported. “Goldman Sachs has made an

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Bolivia’s Evo Morales: US Wants To Overthrow Venezuela To Steal Oil

“The plan of the empire is to overthrow the constitutional president elected by Venezuela … as a warning to anti-imperialist governments,” Morales said.

teleSUR
By teleSUR
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, left, talks with Bolivia's President Evo Morales during a welcome ceremony for presidents attending a meeting in Cochabamba, Bolivia, July 4, 2013. (AP/Juan Karita)

Bolivian President Evo Morales on Thursday slammed ongoing right-wing opposition protests in Venezuela, claiming they serve the interests of multinational elites looking to privatize the country’s oil resources. Morales also said foreign and domestic attacks against President Nicolas Maduro and the Bolivarian Revolution are intended to send a

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